{"id":434934,"date":"2026-10-22T15:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T15:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/434934\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T15:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T15:30:16","slug":"cardinal-bloom-brings-its-burn-the-house-tour-to-tallahassees-926","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/434934\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinal Bloom brings its \u2018Burn the House\u2019 tour to Tallahassee\u2019s 926"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students and Tallahassee locals filed into 926 Bar and Grill on Tuesday night for the final Florida stop of Cardinal Bloom<\/a>‘s “Burn the House” tour. The energy gave no indication that this show was on a weeknight, as audience members jammed to openers Jackson Alter<\/a> and The Band Solstice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both openers have been with Cardinal Bloom for multiple stops on the tour. Jackson Alter began the show with a surprisingly engaging, electrifying set, given that he is a one-man show. He interacted with the crowd through unique gimmicks, like a wheel that chose his next song and a Magic 8 Ball that decided whether he would play an unreleased tune.<\/p>\n

The Band Solstice followed with an incredibly high-energy set. The Knoxville, Tennessee-based band even altered a few of its lyrics to reference Tallahassee, a trick that had the crowd cheering even louder.<\/p>\n

\"Cardinal<\/p>\n

Cardinal Bloom performs at 926 Bar and Grill in Tallahassee during the band\u2019s \u201cBurn the House\u201d tour on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n

“I did not really have too much prior knowledge of [Cardinal Bloom], but from this performance, I love their energy, and I love what they brought to the performance,” audience member Samantha Cressman said to the FSView. “It was just really cool to experience.”<\/p>\n

Never miss a beat: Sign up for the FSView Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

From college jam band to TikTok<\/p>\n

Cardinal Bloom captured the room with its dynamic sound, moving between jangly guitar riffs, tight rhythm sections, and cathartic vocal climaxes. The tour brought the Salt Lake City-based group to Florida for the first time. Tallahassee served as a fitting final stop in the Sunshine State, given the band’s origins as a college jam band at Snow College.<\/p>\n

For lead guitarist Josh Thomas, one of the highlights of touring has been the fans. Some have shown up to shows with gifts for the band.<\/p>\n

“It’s really sweet because I think sometimes you forget that we’re giving people something,” Thomas said to the FSView. “Seeing people feel so connected to our music that they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re coming, and your music means so much to me, I just want to do something for you.’ I’m like, well, you’re listening to our songs, and that’s all we ask for.”<\/p>\n

In 2021, Cardinal Bloom expanded its footprint into Provo, Utah, a hotbed<\/a> for up-and-coming indie rock artists like The Backseat Lovers<\/a> and Neon Trees<\/a>. Around the same time, the band released the EP “To Love Someone” and won the December 2021 Velour Battle of the Bands<\/a> against 19 other local acts.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the band released the single “She’s Just a Friend,” which exploded on TikTok, gaining millions of new streams and bringing new ears to the band. Lead singer Joey St. John credited the Battle of the Bands win and the viral single for nearly all of the band’s growth since.<\/p>\n

“We got booking and our management team, and now our label team that we just signed to,” John said to the FSView. “I think it’s all because of the momentum that happened back then. So yeah, it’s kind of everything for us right now.”<\/p>\n

Cardinal Bloom recently signed<\/a> with Nettwerk Music Group<\/a>, whose roster includes indie musicians such as Alice Phoebe Lou<\/a>, Paris Paloma<\/a>, and b\u00f4a,<\/a> and is managed<\/a> by Mint Talent Group<\/a>. Its growing audience has taken the band to indie festivals, including Fork Fest in 2024 and Treefort Music Fest<\/a> in 2025.<\/p>\n

The band’s spring 2025 tour showcased songs from its debut album, “The Only Place I’ve Ever Known.” The “Burn the House” tour is even larger, taking the band through the Panhandle and up into Canada to perform fresh tracks and the title single.<\/p>\n

“I think when people are like singing back the lyrics, or they’re just like having fun, dancing around, and like jumping with us, and like interacting while we’re playing,” bass player Levi Wunderlich said to the FSView. “It’s more fun and engaging when people choose to be more interactive with us on stage. That’s always a rewarding thing. Whether it’s 100 people in a room or 200, 300 people, it’s just nice to have people excited.”<\/p>\n

A sound built for live shows<\/p>\n

Cardinal Bloom’s sound captures the key characteristics of the indie rock genre: bright, flowing guitar riffs paired with soft, acoustic verses that grow into a head-banging finale. The guitar composition evokes an ’80s sound, with many acoustic moments sounding like a natural conversation between two instruments. The music blends emotionally honest songwriting with infectious melodies that one will keep long after listening.<\/p>\n

“They were … one of the bands that got me into indie music,” audience member Noah Wilson said to the FSView. “So it was very nice to see them live finally.”<\/p>\n

More: Meet the band: Closebye shares what drives their sound<\/a><\/p>\n

Cardinal Bloom brought an energetic, garage-band feel to its performance with banging drums and hypnotizing guitar solos. Some of the songs’ sudden structural transitions felt exhilarating as the amps filled the venue with passionate instrumentation. It is unsurprising that the band tries to preserve this spontaneous, raw energy by recording its songs live<\/a> in the studio.<\/p>\n

“We have a very outspoken rule of always serving the song and not the idea, and just letting every idea have a chance to be tried. I think everyone always has a chance to say something about songwriting if there’s something they want to change,” John said. “A lot of the time, our songs start to write themselves, where an idea happens and then the group settles and everything starts to come into place.”<\/p>\n

Cardinal Bloom heads to New Orleans on Wednesday with The Band Solstice. While grounded in indie rock, the band is leaning into rhythm-focused, danceable grooves. John said the current set already has a few dance-heavy moments, built on grooves from drummer Nathan Adair.<\/p>\n

“Creatively, I think we want to dance a little more. So, I think we will probably pivot in that direction \u2013 we’re not gonna make like disco, you know \u2013 but definitely a little more dancey, or maybe a darker sound, a heavier sound that’s more bass-driven. Tame Impala type stuff,” John said. “We all just like to dance. There’s a lot of fun just getting out of the jump culture and more into the shoulders and hips.”<\/p>\n

Grace Myatt is a Senior Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on FSU News: Cardinal Bloom brings its ‘Burn the House’ tour to Tallahassee’s 926<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Students and Tallahassee locals filed into 926 Bar and Grill on Tuesday night for the final Florida stop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-434934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}